Elecraft

Battery Pack Mod for the KX3

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Dan Baker

Battery Pack Mod for the KX3

I would like to be able to get rid of the AA cell holders inside the KX3,
and go with a battery pack similar to the KX2. LiFePO4 would be a nice
choice in a battery. For instance, I am very happy with Bioennopower
products, www.bioennopower.com Something similer would be very nice. Wayne
could write the firmware for different battery types to accommodate
charging inside the rig. Then Elecraft could sell us some new parts to make
the mod. I think there are more than a few of us that would appreciate not
having to take AA’s out of the rig. And the added benefits of LiFePO4 are
great.

Thanks, Dan KM6CQ
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Doug Kingston

Re: Battery Pack Mod for the KX3

+1. That is definitely a upgrade I would buy.

On Sun, Jul 3, 2016 at 7:22 PM, Dan Baker <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I would like to be able to get rid of the AA cell holders inside the KX3,
> and go with a battery pack similar to the KX2. LiFePO4 would be a nice
> choice in a battery. For instance, I am very happy with Bioennopower
> products, www.bioennopower.com Something similer would be very nice. Wayne
> could write the firmware for different battery types to accommodate
> charging inside the rig. Then Elecraft could sell us some new parts to make
> the mod. I think there are more than a few of us that would appreciate not
> having to take AA’s out of the rig. And the added benefits of LiFePO4 are
> great.
>
>
> Thanks, Dan KM6CQ
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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Peter Lambert

Re: Battery Pack Mod for the KX3

I'd definitely buy an LiFePO4 pack and INTERNAL charger board upgrade too. But only if the batteries can be charged while inside the KX3. I'd leave it the way it is if it meant opening the case to remove the batteries for charging.

73's Peter VK4JD

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Doug Kingston
Sent: Wednesday, 6 July 2016 7:39 AM
To: Dan Baker
Cc: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Battery Pack Mod for the KX3

+1. That is definitely a upgrade I would buy.

On Sun, Jul 3, 2016 at 7:22 PM, Dan Baker <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I would like to be able to get rid of the AA cell holders inside the
> KX3, and go with a battery pack similar to the KX2. LiFePO4 would be a
> nice choice in a battery. For instance, I am very happy with
> Bioennopower products, www.bioennopower.com Something similer would be
> very nice. Wayne could write the firmware for different battery types
> to accommodate charging inside the rig. Then Elecraft could sell us
> some new parts to make the mod. I think there are more than a few of
> us that would appreciate not having to take AA’s out of the rig. And
> the added benefits of LiFePO4 are great.
>
>
> Thanks, Dan KM6CQ
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email
> list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to
> [hidden email]

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Erlend Grimseid

Re: Battery Pack Mod for the KX3

+1 me to.

I have an lifepo4 battery consisting of 8 aa cells. (4s2p) External of
course. Good for a couple of hours of light use. About 2ah.

La4tta
Erlend
5. jul. 2016 11:49 p.m. skrev "Peter Lambert" <[hidden email]>:

> I'd definitely buy an LiFePO4 pack and INTERNAL charger board upgrade
> too. But only if the batteries can be charged while inside the KX3. I'd
> leave it the way it is if it meant opening the case to remove the batteries
> for charging.
>
> 73's Peter VK4JD
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
> Doug Kingston
> Sent: Wednesday, 6 July 2016 7:39 AM
> To: Dan Baker
> Cc: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Battery Pack Mod for the KX3
>
> +1. That is definitely a upgrade I would buy.
>
> On Sun, Jul 3, 2016 at 7:22 PM, Dan Baker <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> > I would like to be able to get rid of the AA cell holders inside the
> > KX3, and go with a battery pack similar to the KX2. LiFePO4 would be a
> > nice choice in a battery. For instance, I am very happy with
> > Bioennopower products, www.bioennopower.com Something similer would be
> > very nice. Wayne could write the firmware for different battery types
> > to accommodate charging inside the rig. Then Elecraft could sell us
> > some new parts to make the mod. I think there are more than a few of
> > us that would appreciate not having to take AA’s out of the rig. And
> > the added benefits of LiFePO4 are great.
> >
> >
> > Thanks, Dan KM6CQ
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > Elecraft mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:[hidden email]
> >
> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email
> > list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to
> > [hidden email]
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Elecraft mailing list

Battery Mod for K2 battery pack (was : Battery Pack Mod for the KX3)

Similarly, with the advance in battery technology, the lead acid battery in K2 should be now advanced to a LiFePo pack as well. There are ample space inside the K2 for installing a new charging circuit board. This will greatly reduce the weight of a battery powered K2 and give much longer operating period.
73
Johnny VR2XMC
寄件人︰ Erlend Grimseid <[hidden email]>
收件人︰ [hidden email]
傳送日期︰ 2016年07月6日 (週三) 6:37 AM
主題︰ Re: [Elecraft] Battery Pack Mod for the KX3

+1 me to.

I have an lifepo4 battery consisting of 8 aa cells. (4s2p) External of
course. Good for a couple of hours of light use. About 2ah.

La4tta
Erlend
5. jul. 2016 11:49 p.m. skrev "Peter Lambert" <[hidden email]>:

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Don Wilhelm

Re: Battery Mod for K2 battery pack (was : Battery Pack Mod for the KX3)

Johnny,

While this is a good suggestion, given the age of the K2 and the lack of
engineering time for the Elecraft designers, I don't think it will be a
change coming from Elecraft.

It is however a good suggestion to reduce the weight and operating time
for a portable K2/10. I think it would be a good mod for some
enterprising ham. I don't think an internal charging circuit board
would be necessary. Check out the direct battery connection on my
website www.w3fpr.com - Smartcharger for the K2. With a battery
replacement, the Smartcharger part is not relevant, but the direct
connection to the battery is relevant.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 7/5/2016 9:11 PM, Johnny Siu via Elecraft wrote:
> Similarly, with the advance in battery technology, the lead acid battery in K2 should be now advanced to a LiFePo pack as well. There are ample space inside the K2 for installing a new charging circuit board. This will greatly reduce the weight of a battery powered K2 and give much longer operating period.
>

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ae5ka

Fwd: Battery Mod for K2 battery pack (was : Battery Pack Mod for the KX3)

I used a 4S1P 2200 mAh LiFePO4 pack inside my K2 for a long time, and
charged it with the original BT2 charging circuit. The BT2 charged the pack
slowly enough that it never got warm, even if charging was continued well
past full charge for each of the LiFePO4 cells. Normally I just let it run
over night and that was enough. Although this is not the ideal way to
charge this chemistry, I found it worked well. After several
charge/discharge cycles using the BT2 circuit to charge, I would remove the
pack and do a proper balance charge with a charger intended for LiFePO4
cells, and found that all of the cells were still in good balance. I also
did not find any significant drop in pack capacity over the 5 years and
perhaps 30 charge cycles I used this method. I think it worked well because
the charge and discharge rates in K2 service were gentle and not a stress
on the cells.

Would it have been ideal to use a balance charger every time to charge the
pack? Of course. Doing it the way I did, maybe I lowered ultimate useful
life of the pack from 500 to 200 cycles (just a WAG), but even if I had
come close to 200 cycles before I replaced the pack, I would have
considered doing it this way a big success.

YMMV, but this worked well for me. Now that I have a KX3, I don't take the
K2 portable anymore, but it is still my favored base station.

Chip
AE5KA
SOTA W5 Association Manager

On Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 9:31 PM, Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Johnny,
>
> While this is a good suggestion, given the age of the K2 and the lack of
> engineering time for the Elecraft designers, I don't think it will be a
> change coming from Elecraft.
>
> It is however a good suggestion to reduce the weight and operating time
> for a portable K2/10. I think it would be a good mod for some enterprising
> ham. I don't think an internal charging circuit board would be necessary.
> Check out the direct battery connection on my website www.w3fpr.com -
> Smartcharger for the K2. With a battery replacement, the Smartcharger part
> is not relevant, but the direct connection to the battery is relevant.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> On 7/5/2016 9:11 PM, Johnny Siu via Elecraft wrote:
>
>> Similarly, with the advance in battery technology, the lead acid battery
>> in K2 should be now advanced to a LiFePo pack as well. There are ample
>> space inside the K2 for installing a new charging circuit board. This will
>> greatly reduce the weight of a battery powered K2 and give much longer
>> operating period.
>>
>>
> ______________________________________________________________
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>